Original Story: freep.com
The former director of the Detroit Land Bank Authority was fired from the job he’d held less than a year because he came to work drunk and had been accused of stalking and threatening a coworker, according to people familiar with the matter. A Memphis employment lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
The board of the land bank fired Kevin Simowski last month without explanation. But people familiar with the matter confirmed to the Free Press that Simowski had shown up intoxicated on the job and had threatened the woman who would ultimately replace him, Carrie Lewand-Monroe, who sought a personal protection order against Simowski.
Lewand-Monroe, daughter of Mayor Mike Duggan’s Group Executive for Jobs and Economic Growth, Tom Lewand, filed the PPO the day before the land bank board called a special meeting to fire Simowski. A Denver employment attorney is following this story closely.
The revelation answers the mystery of why Simowski, a longtime Duggan friend, was fired summarily last month, with officials saying only that it was a personnel matter that would remain private.
His termination came amid intense scrutiny of the land bank as costs for demolition of blighted homes in Detroit rose to an average $16,400, up from $10,000 or less under former Mayor Dave Bing’s administration. Officials said Simowski’s firing was unrelated to news reports about the rising costs.
Simowski couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
Lewand-Monroe was said to fear for her life because of the stalking and threats from Simowski, which included showing up at her Ann Arbor home. Once city and land bank officials learned of the threats, Simowski was fired without severance, one source said. A Memphis hostile workplace lawyer works with businesses and employers to address hostile work environments.
The land bank issued a statement late Wednesday from Erica Ward Gerson, the land bank's board chairwoman, who said that Simowski was placed on medical leave Sept. 1.
"He has not been on the premises since that date and was instructed by me to not contact any land bank employees during that leave," Ward-Gerson said. "Based on Information provided me by an employee of the Land Bank relative to an incident on October 7th, the land bank terminated Simowski on October 8th. Simowski was terminated for cause, and no severance was paid."
Ward- Gerson said that the board could not comment beyond that.
Simowski was credited with helping Duggan create the program Duggan started when he was Wayne County Prosecutor to file nuisance lawsuits against owners of homes that became blighted drug dens, forcing owners to clean them up or hand over deeds. It was the framework for Duggan’s program to clean up blighted homes in Detroit as mayor through the Detroit Land Bank. A Poughkeepsie labor and employment lawyer has experience defending clients in employment related matters.
Simowski followed Duggan to the Detroit Medical Center, where he was an executive under Duggan who was the medical center’s CEO in 2004-2012.
Duggan's office declined comment Wednesday night.
Showing posts with label detroit medical center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label detroit medical center. Show all posts
05 November 2015
06 July 2015
FORMER DMC CHIEF DIES IN PANAMA AMID KICKBACK PROBE
Original Story: freep.com
A former head of the Detroit Medical Center who was later charged in one of the largest fraud and corruption investigations in Canadian history has died in custody in Panama.
Dr. Arthur Porter, 59, CEO of DMC from 1999 through 2003, died Wednesday of cancer while under armed guard in a Panama City hospital. The death was announced by Porter's biographer, Jeff Todd, who said the cause was lung cancer that had spread to the bone and liver.
Before his transfer to the hospital this spring, Porter had been in Panama's La Joya Prison following his 2013 arrest in that country on fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges related to the construction of a $1.3 billion so-called super hospital in Montreal. A Birmingham criminal lawyer is following this story closely.
Porter, who left the DMC to head McGill University's hospital network, was accused of taking as much as $22.5 million in bribes in a kickback scheme for the super hospital's construction contract.
At least seven other individuals also faced criminal charges for the kickback allegations, according to the Montreal Gazette.
The newspaper reported that Porter's extradition to Quebec had been put on hold earlier this year as his lawyer challenged his detention in prison. It does not appear that Porter ever faced trial for the allegations.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs would not comment Wednesday night on any specifics of Porter's case. A Harrisonburg white collar crime lawyer is experienced in the effective resolution of white collar crime lawsuits as related to business related crimes.
A native of Sierra Leone, Porter was a radiation oncology specialist who became CEO of DMC in May 1999, when the then-struggling hospital system was burning through nearly $100 million a year. Although he slashed thousands of jobs, consolidated hospitals and sold off clinics, DMC was still a money-loser by September 2003, when Porter resigned under pressure.
In a memoir released last year that he wrote while in prison, Porter claimed that in 2001, he received a phone call from President George W. Bush offering him the job of U.S. Surgeon General, according to the Montreal Gazette. Porter declined Bush's offer.
Porter left the U.S. in 2004 to become executive director of McGill University's hospital network. In 2008, he was named to a seat on Canada's spy agency watchdog committee, gaining access to Canadian state secrets.
At the time of Porter's arrest in 2013, DMC officials told the Free Press that he was never suspected or accused of any wrongdoing during his years in Detroit. He arrived in Detroit in 1991 as a member of the radiation oncology department at the DMC-affiliated Wayne State University School of Medicine.
"We certainly didn't see any behavior that would have caused us to believe he was involved in improper activities," a former DMC board member, Stephen D'Arcy, said at the time. "It's almost bizarre the kinds of things he was involved in apparently in Canada."
A DMC spokesperson could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
According to Porter's biographer, Porter was forced to smuggle chemotherapy drugs into prison to keep himself alive and, despite repeated letters to the Canadian embassy in Panama for better medical care, wasn't granted access to cancer treatment until this year.
He spent his final days on high doses of morphine for the pain, his biographer wrote in a statement posted online.
The Montreal Gazette reported that Porter's wife pleaded guilty in December to money laundering and was sentenced to two years in prison. A San Francisco corporate lawyer represents clients in corporate criminal charges and corporate finance cases.
In attempts to recover $17.5 million of the $22.5 million that was allegedly defrauded, Quebec authorities have seized properties belonging to Porter and his family in Michigan, Florida and the Caribbean and bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries, the newspaper said.
A former head of the Detroit Medical Center who was later charged in one of the largest fraud and corruption investigations in Canadian history has died in custody in Panama.
Dr. Arthur Porter, 59, CEO of DMC from 1999 through 2003, died Wednesday of cancer while under armed guard in a Panama City hospital. The death was announced by Porter's biographer, Jeff Todd, who said the cause was lung cancer that had spread to the bone and liver.
Before his transfer to the hospital this spring, Porter had been in Panama's La Joya Prison following his 2013 arrest in that country on fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges related to the construction of a $1.3 billion so-called super hospital in Montreal. A Birmingham criminal lawyer is following this story closely.
Porter, who left the DMC to head McGill University's hospital network, was accused of taking as much as $22.5 million in bribes in a kickback scheme for the super hospital's construction contract.
At least seven other individuals also faced criminal charges for the kickback allegations, according to the Montreal Gazette.
The newspaper reported that Porter's extradition to Quebec had been put on hold earlier this year as his lawyer challenged his detention in prison. It does not appear that Porter ever faced trial for the allegations.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs would not comment Wednesday night on any specifics of Porter's case. A Harrisonburg white collar crime lawyer is experienced in the effective resolution of white collar crime lawsuits as related to business related crimes.
A native of Sierra Leone, Porter was a radiation oncology specialist who became CEO of DMC in May 1999, when the then-struggling hospital system was burning through nearly $100 million a year. Although he slashed thousands of jobs, consolidated hospitals and sold off clinics, DMC was still a money-loser by September 2003, when Porter resigned under pressure.
In a memoir released last year that he wrote while in prison, Porter claimed that in 2001, he received a phone call from President George W. Bush offering him the job of U.S. Surgeon General, according to the Montreal Gazette. Porter declined Bush's offer.
Porter left the U.S. in 2004 to become executive director of McGill University's hospital network. In 2008, he was named to a seat on Canada's spy agency watchdog committee, gaining access to Canadian state secrets.
At the time of Porter's arrest in 2013, DMC officials told the Free Press that he was never suspected or accused of any wrongdoing during his years in Detroit. He arrived in Detroit in 1991 as a member of the radiation oncology department at the DMC-affiliated Wayne State University School of Medicine.
"We certainly didn't see any behavior that would have caused us to believe he was involved in improper activities," a former DMC board member, Stephen D'Arcy, said at the time. "It's almost bizarre the kinds of things he was involved in apparently in Canada."
A DMC spokesperson could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
According to Porter's biographer, Porter was forced to smuggle chemotherapy drugs into prison to keep himself alive and, despite repeated letters to the Canadian embassy in Panama for better medical care, wasn't granted access to cancer treatment until this year.
He spent his final days on high doses of morphine for the pain, his biographer wrote in a statement posted online.
The Montreal Gazette reported that Porter's wife pleaded guilty in December to money laundering and was sentenced to two years in prison. A San Francisco corporate lawyer represents clients in corporate criminal charges and corporate finance cases.
In attempts to recover $17.5 million of the $22.5 million that was allegedly defrauded, Quebec authorities have seized properties belonging to Porter and his family in Michigan, Florida and the Caribbean and bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries, the newspaper said.
04 June 2015
DMC, DUGGAN CLASH ON DETROIT AUTO INSURANCE PLAN
Original Story: detroitnews.com
Lansing — Mayor Mike Duggan is at odds with his former employer at the Detroit Medical Center in his legislative battle to let Detroiters buy lower-cost auto insurance coverage with limited medical benefits. A Detroit car accident attorney is following this story closely.
Duggan's "D-Insurance" bill gained approval from the Senate Insurance Committee Wednesday with changes that would let other cities with 35 percent uninsured drivers allow insurers to sell plans capped at $250,000 in car injuries. Claims above that cap would be directed to a driver's health insurance.
But the DMC, where Duggan was CEO from 2004-12, opposes the Detroit mayor's bill because it eliminates unlimited catastrophic coverage for drivers who suffer brain and spinal cord injuries, said Conrad Mallett Jr., chief administration officer of the hospital system. A Detroit car accident lawyer represents clients injured in automobile accidents.
"D-Insurance is not going to be the panacea for the people that live in Detroit … that the mayor believes," said Mallett, a Detroiter who worked under Duggan for eight years.
The DMC treats drivers with severe brain, spinal and neurological injuries from car accidents at its Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.
"We believe that access back to the catastrophic insurance fund is critical," Mallett told The Detroit News. "We are with the mayor on everything but this."
Duggan, who has met with Detroit hospital leaders in the past week, downplayed the impact to the DMC's bottom line and care to patients.
"It has only a marginal impact on the hospitals," Duggan said Wednesday. "The hospitals will still be able to charge their triple Blue Cross rate."
The years-long battle over reforming Michigan's no-fault auto insurance system rests with the level of long-term care insurers should have to cover for treatments and therapies after hospitalization. A Detroit insurance defense lawyer helps insurance carriers analyze and understand all of the legal and business issues involved in processing insurance claims.
Duggan's insurance plan has been introduced as an alternative to making statewide changes to the insurance system, which passed the Senate last month but has stalled in the House after intense lobbying against the bill by hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
"It's a pilot project ... that maybe someday other areas of the state could follow," said Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.
Duggan, a Democrat, is trying to keep the Republican-controlled Legislature focused on his narrowly tailored legislation, which does not include caps on the amounts hospitals can charge for individual procedures like the bill stalled in the House would do.
"This doesn't have nearly as dramatic of an effect on the hospitals as the earlier bill," Duggan said.
Duggan's bill focuses on lowering Detroit's 60 percent rate of motorists illegally driving on city streets and freeways without insurance.
The Detroit mayor argues his plan, which would be voluntary for drivers, could cut insurance premiums by one-third or $1,000 for the typical car owner in the city.
"We think the great majority of the financial abuses are coming post-hospital," Duggan said. "I don't believe the hospital is where the problem is."
Mallett said he remains convinced that Duggan's plan will really drive down the cost of Detroit's highest-in-the-nation auto insurance rates.
"We'd be glad to be part of the conversation, but for the life of me as someone who lives and works in the city of Detroit I have to say I'm unconvinced," he said.
The committee amended the legislation Wednesday to allow any city with an uninsured rate of at least 35 percent to petition the state insurance commissioner to allow insurers to sell lower-cost plans with less benefits. The original version of Duggan's proposal set the threshold at 50 percent. A Grand Rapids insurance defense lawyer is following this story closely.
The committee voted 5-3 to advance the bill to the Senate floor.
Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, said the new threshold should allow his hometown, Hamtramck, Ecorse, River Rouge, Inkster, Pontiac, Benton Harbor, Saginaw and, possibly, Flint to participate.
Sen. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, voted for the bill but expressed disappointment that it would be limited to drivers in urban cities with high concentrations of poverty.
"Poverty knows no municipal lines," O'Brien said.
Under the bill, drivers who opt to buy a lower-cost, cut-rate auto insurance plan would surrender any right to make a claim to the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, a fund all drivers pay into for coverage of life-altering vehicle injuries.
"There's going to be some huge heartburn on the part of medical providers," said Johnson, who supported the bill.
But Johnson argues the DMC and other hospitals will ultimately benefit from having more Detroit drivers with insurance they can afford.
Lansing — Mayor Mike Duggan is at odds with his former employer at the Detroit Medical Center in his legislative battle to let Detroiters buy lower-cost auto insurance coverage with limited medical benefits. A Detroit car accident attorney is following this story closely.
Duggan's "D-Insurance" bill gained approval from the Senate Insurance Committee Wednesday with changes that would let other cities with 35 percent uninsured drivers allow insurers to sell plans capped at $250,000 in car injuries. Claims above that cap would be directed to a driver's health insurance.
But the DMC, where Duggan was CEO from 2004-12, opposes the Detroit mayor's bill because it eliminates unlimited catastrophic coverage for drivers who suffer brain and spinal cord injuries, said Conrad Mallett Jr., chief administration officer of the hospital system. A Detroit car accident lawyer represents clients injured in automobile accidents.
"D-Insurance is not going to be the panacea for the people that live in Detroit … that the mayor believes," said Mallett, a Detroiter who worked under Duggan for eight years.
The DMC treats drivers with severe brain, spinal and neurological injuries from car accidents at its Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan.
"We believe that access back to the catastrophic insurance fund is critical," Mallett told The Detroit News. "We are with the mayor on everything but this."
Duggan, who has met with Detroit hospital leaders in the past week, downplayed the impact to the DMC's bottom line and care to patients.
"It has only a marginal impact on the hospitals," Duggan said Wednesday. "The hospitals will still be able to charge their triple Blue Cross rate."
The years-long battle over reforming Michigan's no-fault auto insurance system rests with the level of long-term care insurers should have to cover for treatments and therapies after hospitalization. A Detroit insurance defense lawyer helps insurance carriers analyze and understand all of the legal and business issues involved in processing insurance claims.
Duggan's insurance plan has been introduced as an alternative to making statewide changes to the insurance system, which passed the Senate last month but has stalled in the House after intense lobbying against the bill by hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
"It's a pilot project ... that maybe someday other areas of the state could follow," said Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.
Duggan, a Democrat, is trying to keep the Republican-controlled Legislature focused on his narrowly tailored legislation, which does not include caps on the amounts hospitals can charge for individual procedures like the bill stalled in the House would do.
"This doesn't have nearly as dramatic of an effect on the hospitals as the earlier bill," Duggan said.
Duggan's bill focuses on lowering Detroit's 60 percent rate of motorists illegally driving on city streets and freeways without insurance.
The Detroit mayor argues his plan, which would be voluntary for drivers, could cut insurance premiums by one-third or $1,000 for the typical car owner in the city.
"We think the great majority of the financial abuses are coming post-hospital," Duggan said. "I don't believe the hospital is where the problem is."
Mallett said he remains convinced that Duggan's plan will really drive down the cost of Detroit's highest-in-the-nation auto insurance rates.
"We'd be glad to be part of the conversation, but for the life of me as someone who lives and works in the city of Detroit I have to say I'm unconvinced," he said.
The committee amended the legislation Wednesday to allow any city with an uninsured rate of at least 35 percent to petition the state insurance commissioner to allow insurers to sell lower-cost plans with less benefits. The original version of Duggan's proposal set the threshold at 50 percent. A Grand Rapids insurance defense lawyer is following this story closely.
The committee voted 5-3 to advance the bill to the Senate floor.
Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, said the new threshold should allow his hometown, Hamtramck, Ecorse, River Rouge, Inkster, Pontiac, Benton Harbor, Saginaw and, possibly, Flint to participate.
Sen. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, voted for the bill but expressed disappointment that it would be limited to drivers in urban cities with high concentrations of poverty.
"Poverty knows no municipal lines," O'Brien said.
Under the bill, drivers who opt to buy a lower-cost, cut-rate auto insurance plan would surrender any right to make a claim to the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, a fund all drivers pay into for coverage of life-altering vehicle injuries.
"There's going to be some huge heartburn on the part of medical providers," said Johnson, who supported the bill.
But Johnson argues the DMC and other hospitals will ultimately benefit from having more Detroit drivers with insurance they can afford.
12 April 2010
Groups ask Cox for Probe of Proposed DMC Sale
Detroit Free Press
Three nonprofit groups opposed to the sale of the Detroit Medical Center to for-profit Vanguard Health Systems of Nashville today asked Michigan’s attorney general for a thorough investigation of the purchase.
In response to a letter from the attorney general requesting more information about their objections, the Coalition to Protect Detroit Health Care sent a three-page letter of questions and requests, including checking with the attorney generals in four states where Vanguard owns former nonprofit hospitals to see if the company upheld community commitments elsewhere.
The coalition will meet Wednesday with Tracy Sonneborn, an assistant attorney general, to explain concerns raised in the letter.
The coalition is comprised of the Michigan Universal Health Care Network, a pro-health reform coalition; the Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength, or Moses, an organization of community and religious leaders active on health issues, and Michigan Legal Services, a Detroit legal aid organization.
Mike Duggan, CEO of the medical center, said today that the Vanguard purchase has widespread community support and the health system will “do whatever the AG asks us to do” to answer questions.
Last month, the coalition opposed to the sale, saying it would violate the state’s nonprofit statute.
“We want the attorney general to look at the long-term sustainability” of the DMC after the purchase and “what track record is in other states" where Vanguard has purchased other non-profit hospitals and converted them into investor-owned facilities, said Marjorie Mitchell, a coalition spokeswoman and executive director of the health care network.
“We want to know if Vanguard provided essential services to the community” after those purchases, Mitchell said. While a pledge by Vanguard to invest $850 million in DMC improvements will provide short-term benefits, “what’s in it for the long term?”
“We need to be sure that the needs of the city of Detroit are adequately addressed.” Even though Vanguard has pledged to keep the DMC’s full-service hospitals open, any could be closed with DMC board approval, she added. “With board approval — that seems to be a big loophole,” Mitchell said.
The two companies have signed a letter-of-intent for Vanguard to buy the Detroit Medical Center, Michigan’s largest safety net hospital system for the poor and under-insured, and hope to finalize the deal by June 1. It hinges on state approval by Attorney General Mike Cox. The purchase has been widely supported by Detroit and Wayne County non profit hospital leaders and is viewed as a major boost to a battered city eager for new investments.
In their letter, written in response to a request from the attorney general’s office for more details, the groups ask for:
• An assessment of which services are vital to the DMC and must be maintained, such as Hutzel Women’s hospital’s premature baby unit and Detroit Receiving’s trauma department.
• A broader regional assessment, so the community knows what impact any cuts could have on certain services in the area.
• An independent valuation and appraisal of the sale by someone other than DMC or Vanguard.
• How will Vanguard’s highly leveraged situation affect the DMC in the future? Does it make Vanguard “ripe for somebody bigger to buy”?
• Will hiring be mostly from Detroit or outside the state?
• Will Vanguard cut departments and close hospitals as it has in other cities where it bought nonprofit hospitals?
In response to a letter from the attorney general requesting more information about their objections, the Coalition to Protect Detroit Health Care sent a three-page letter of questions and requests, including checking with the attorney generals in four states where Vanguard owns former nonprofit hospitals to see if the company upheld community commitments elsewhere.
The coalition will meet Wednesday with Tracy Sonneborn, an assistant attorney general, to explain concerns raised in the letter.
The coalition is comprised of the Michigan Universal Health Care Network, a pro-health reform coalition; the Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength, or Moses, an organization of community and religious leaders active on health issues, and Michigan Legal Services, a Detroit legal aid organization.
Mike Duggan, CEO of the medical center, said today that the Vanguard purchase has widespread community support and the health system will “do whatever the AG asks us to do” to answer questions.
Last month, the coalition opposed to the sale, saying it would violate the state’s nonprofit statute.
“We want the attorney general to look at the long-term sustainability” of the DMC after the purchase and “what track record is in other states" where Vanguard has purchased other non-profit hospitals and converted them into investor-owned facilities, said Marjorie Mitchell, a coalition spokeswoman and executive director of the health care network.
“We want to know if Vanguard provided essential services to the community” after those purchases, Mitchell said. While a pledge by Vanguard to invest $850 million in DMC improvements will provide short-term benefits, “what’s in it for the long term?”
“We need to be sure that the needs of the city of Detroit are adequately addressed.” Even though Vanguard has pledged to keep the DMC’s full-service hospitals open, any could be closed with DMC board approval, she added. “With board approval — that seems to be a big loophole,” Mitchell said.
The two companies have signed a letter-of-intent for Vanguard to buy the Detroit Medical Center, Michigan’s largest safety net hospital system for the poor and under-insured, and hope to finalize the deal by June 1. It hinges on state approval by Attorney General Mike Cox. The purchase has been widely supported by Detroit and Wayne County non profit hospital leaders and is viewed as a major boost to a battered city eager for new investments.
In their letter, written in response to a request from the attorney general’s office for more details, the groups ask for:
• An assessment of which services are vital to the DMC and must be maintained, such as Hutzel Women’s hospital’s premature baby unit and Detroit Receiving’s trauma department.
• A broader regional assessment, so the community knows what impact any cuts could have on certain services in the area.
• An independent valuation and appraisal of the sale by someone other than DMC or Vanguard.
• How will Vanguard’s highly leveraged situation affect the DMC in the future? Does it make Vanguard “ripe for somebody bigger to buy”?
• Will hiring be mostly from Detroit or outside the state?
• Will Vanguard cut departments and close hospitals as it has in other cities where it bought nonprofit hospitals?
24 March 2010
Detroit City Officials Hopeful Vanguard-DMC Deal Will Bring Jobs
The Detroit Free Press
As details unfolded Friday about the potential sale of the Detroit Medical Center to Vanguard Health Systems, City of Detroit officials said they are eyeing the prospect of new jobs coming to the city.
"I think it will send a message around the country that we, as a city, are open for business," Mayor Dave Bing said at a news conference announcing the deal. "This is an $850-million investment in our city, in our neighborhoods and our future."
Later, Bing said he hopes the deal -- estimated to bring 10,000 jobs to the city over the next five years -- lures other investment to Detroit.
The Detroit City Council and the Wayne County Board of Commissioners will need to approve Renaissance Zone tax abatements for the medical center.
The Renaissance Zone designation grants 100% tax abatements on city and state taxes for 12 years. The tax break then drops to 75% in the 13th year; 50% in the 14th year; 25% in the 15th year, and full taxes due after that.
Bing administration officials said they have not determined the amount of taxes they would receive when the zone designation expires.
City Council President Charles Pugh said he was concerned about access for care and Detroiters having access to the jobs created. "As we proceed, we're going to work out the details," he said.
County Executive Robert Ficano said the challenge now is to get all the permits and designations approved, something he promised the region can do within 60 days.
The deal's first stop for approval will be the council's Planning and Economic Development Committee. Saunteel Jenkins, who chairs the committee, said she's still learning about the deal.
"We want to make sure that the investment remains in the city of Detroit," she said.
"I think it will send a message around the country that we, as a city, are open for business," Mayor Dave Bing said at a news conference announcing the deal. "This is an $850-million investment in our city, in our neighborhoods and our future."
Later, Bing said he hopes the deal -- estimated to bring 10,000 jobs to the city over the next five years -- lures other investment to Detroit.
The Detroit City Council and the Wayne County Board of Commissioners will need to approve Renaissance Zone tax abatements for the medical center.
The Renaissance Zone designation grants 100% tax abatements on city and state taxes for 12 years. The tax break then drops to 75% in the 13th year; 50% in the 14th year; 25% in the 15th year, and full taxes due after that.
Bing administration officials said they have not determined the amount of taxes they would receive when the zone designation expires.
City Council President Charles Pugh said he was concerned about access for care and Detroiters having access to the jobs created. "As we proceed, we're going to work out the details," he said.
County Executive Robert Ficano said the challenge now is to get all the permits and designations approved, something he promised the region can do within 60 days.
The deal's first stop for approval will be the council's Planning and Economic Development Committee. Saunteel Jenkins, who chairs the committee, said she's still learning about the deal.
"We want to make sure that the investment remains in the city of Detroit," she said.
22 March 2010
Vanguard to Buy Eight-Hospital Detroit Medical Center for $417 Million
Becker's Hospital Review
Vanguard Health Systems plans to buy eight-hospital Detroit Medical Center, Michigan's largest healthcare system, for $417 million and spend $850 million more in improvements over 15 years, according to a joint release from both parties in the deal.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard is a for-profit healthcare system that typically takes bankrupt or near-bankrupt hospitals and turns them into for-profit facilities, the Detroit Free Press reports. It operates 15 hospitals in Illinois, Arizona, Texas and Massachusetts and had $3.2 billion in reserves as of 2009.
The letter of intent between the two parties, which must be approved by city, county and state authorities, stipulates:
• All of the medical center's hospitals would stay open and maintain their charity obligations for at least 10 years.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard is a for-profit healthcare system that typically takes bankrupt or near-bankrupt hospitals and turns them into for-profit facilities, the Detroit Free Press reports. It operates 15 hospitals in Illinois, Arizona, Texas and Massachusetts and had $3.2 billion in reserves as of 2009.
The letter of intent between the two parties, which must be approved by city, county and state authorities, stipulates:
• All of the medical center's hospitals would stay open and maintain their charity obligations for at least 10 years.
• Vanguard would retire all of the medical center's outstanding bonds and other long-term debts, including pension contributions.
• Vanguard would spend $75.1 million for a new Detroit heart treatment institute.
• Vanguard would apply to create an economic zone around the medical center campus to gain federal funding.
• A regional advisory board made up of four members from Vanguard and three from the medical center will oversee the operation.
• Detroit Medical Center Chair Steve D'Arcy and the DMC board will remain.
• The agreement would be voided on June 1 if the two parties cannot agree on the provisions.
06 January 2010
Fire At Detroit's Huntington Hotel
The Detroit News
Five people were injured when a fire engulfed the Huntington Hotel in Midtown on Thursday night.
Fire officials said three tenants were critically injured, two firefighters were injured and one person is missing. Multiple fire trucks were at the scene, west of Woodward Avenue.
Fire officials said three tenants were critically injured, two firefighters were injured and one person is missing. Multiple fire trucks were at the scene, west of Woodward Avenue.
Fire officials said at 9 p.m. that there are still people unaccounted for inside the building and there may be deaths.
Cheri Rice Murray, 58, said she smelled smoke in her fourth-floor apartment and was unable to make her way down the hallway because of the thick smoke.
"We broke the glass out of my window there," she said pointing up at the flaming building. "The Fire Department, they took us out of there on their ladder. If they hadn't, we'd still be in there."
Murray said she is one of 24 residents renting rooms on her floor. She pays $280 a month for her room with a bathroom.
Lawrence Walker, 55, who lives in the building, said his girlfriend, Ann Louise Roder, 67, is missing and presumed dead.
Walker said their room got real cloudy, and he stepped in the hallway and the smoke rushed in. "My woman yelled 'Help me!' I couldn’t even get back there. I couldn’t get back to her. I heard her say 'Help me, baby. Something went boom and I feel over. It was bad. It was so bad. I couldn’t get back to her."
A block away, residents said they heard an exploding sound that shook their apartment building.
Terence Simmons, 56, was wearing a gold party hat that said "Happy New Year" as he watched the fire. "We were decorating for a party, and now I want to go home and put it all away. Something tragic like this always seems to happen on the holiday."
The hotel, 109 W. Alexandrine St., is a five-story structure. Residents rent the rooms by the month . Fire officials said it is a two-alarm blaze. The building is nestled between buildings belonging to Detroit Medical Center and the Childrens DMC.
Cheri Rice Murray, 58, said she smelled smoke in her fourth-floor apartment and was unable to make her way down the hallway because of the thick smoke.
"We broke the glass out of my window there," she said pointing up at the flaming building. "The Fire Department, they took us out of there on their ladder. If they hadn't, we'd still be in there."
Murray said she is one of 24 residents renting rooms on her floor. She pays $280 a month for her room with a bathroom.
Lawrence Walker, 55, who lives in the building, said his girlfriend, Ann Louise Roder, 67, is missing and presumed dead.
Walker said their room got real cloudy, and he stepped in the hallway and the smoke rushed in. "My woman yelled 'Help me!' I couldn’t even get back there. I couldn’t get back to her. I heard her say 'Help me, baby. Something went boom and I feel over. It was bad. It was so bad. I couldn’t get back to her."
A block away, residents said they heard an exploding sound that shook their apartment building.
Terence Simmons, 56, was wearing a gold party hat that said "Happy New Year" as he watched the fire. "We were decorating for a party, and now I want to go home and put it all away. Something tragic like this always seems to happen on the holiday."
The hotel, 109 W. Alexandrine St., is a five-story structure. Residents rent the rooms by the month . Fire officials said it is a two-alarm blaze. The building is nestled between buildings belonging to Detroit Medical Center and the Childrens DMC.
17 March 2009
Two Michigan Health Systems See Gains And Losses
Originally Posted To The Detroit News
Two major Detroit hospital systems -- the Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Health System -- made money on operations in 2008, despite huge losses incurred from unpaid medical bills and a deepening recession that's causing more people to lose their jobs and Michigan health insurance.
The DMC reported making $39 million on operations in 2008, an increase from the prior year and the largest one-year gain on operations since 1997, said CEO Mike Duggan.
Across town, Henry Ford also made money on operations in 2008, netting about $53.5 million, according to its unaudited financial results. That profit, however, was a drop from 2007 when Henry Ford made about $100.2 million from operating activities.
Operating income is an industry yardstick for measuring hospital performance absent investment income and other non-operating items.
Warren-based St. John Health, which has its flagship hospital in east Detroit, doesn't release its year-end financials until after June 30, when its fiscal year ends.
Despite the gains, Henry Ford and the DMC lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year on uncompensated care -- unpaid medical bills they don't expect to collect payment on -- and in the investment market, which plummeted last fall, putting millions of dollars in unrealized losses on their books. Many of the losses are due to newly unemployed workers who are no longer insured by a Michigan health insurance company.
Henry Ford, which has its headquarters on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, saw its uncompensated care costs rise from $132 million in 2007 to $161 million last year. The seven-hospital health system also lost about $45 million on investments, dragging down its net profit to $8.5 million by the year's end.
Similarly, the DMC, which has its main hospital campus in Detroit's midtown, booked $47 million in unrealized investment losses in 2008, causing the organization to post a net loss of $6.5 million in 2008 -- the first red ink the hospital has seen since it began making money again in 2004 after nearly a decade of losses.
Duggan said the medical center doesn't usually focus on unrealized investment gains or losses, because the stock market is constantly in flux and those figures aren't directly related to operating performance.On uncompensated care, the DMC did better, reducing its losses from $266 million in 2007 to $255 million last year. The reduction came largely because the medical center made a better effort at enrolling its Medicaid-eligible patients in the Michigan Medicaid insurance program, Duggan said.
"We consider it to have been an excellent year," Duggan said, adding the city's long-term economic problems have forced the DMC to make cuts ahead of some industry rivals. "What other people are going through right now, the DMC went through in 2003 and 2005," Duggan said.
Duggan added the DMC hopes to begin construction on a $30 million outpatient center for its Children's Hospital of Michigan this year, but is waiting for the bond market to improve.
Other Metro Detroit hospitals have faced a challenging year.
In Oakland County, Beaumont Hospitals -- a historically strong financial performer in the region -- lost $29 million on operations in 2008 and has had to lay off staff.
And a report by the Michigan Health and Hospital Association released earlier this year found that 60 percent of Michigan hospitals reported a negative operating margin in the third quarter of 2008, following huge investment losses and last fall's Wall Street meltdown.
In that same quarter, the average margin had fallen to minus 2.9 percent, from plus 2 percent in 2007, the report found.
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